Sandals Barbados

We stayed at the Sandals Barbados June 26th to July 3rd. We had a great time. The resort is right next to the Sandals Royal Barbados. This means that you have access to the facilities at both resorts. It’s a nice bonus. More options is a good thing to have. We stayed in a Beachfront Honeymoon Club Level Suite. It was nice. The view overlooked one of the pools and the beach. We would choose the same room again. One of the main reasons for us choosing Sandals resorts is that the scuba diving is included. So, they have beautifully maintained grounds, great beach, multiple pools, great selection of restaurants, multiple bars, great premium level cocktails, and great activities (both daytime and in the evenings). Oh, and the Sandals staff are nice people. Pretty much perfect. I highly recommend spending some time at the rooftop pool. It has a great view of the beach and the resort. We dove every day that we could, six out of our seven days. We really enjoyed the diving. The dive team, starting with my favorite, Melissa, were so nice and represented Sandals perfectly. Shout out to Jalissa too! Thanks to the boat Captains, Phillip and Paterson, dive Masters Seth, Robert, Mike, and Torrie. They all made our time under the water and on the boat safe and fun. They did a good at pointing out interesting sea life. As I noted, all the Sandals staff that we encountered are nice people. I do want to recognize some that made our time at Sandals extra special. Jack, the Manager at the Merry Monkey. Is an absolute gem. Alicia (Bartender), Adio (Hobie Cats), Charmaine (Spa), Krystal (Spa), and Melissa (Diving). Yes, I know I mentioned Melissa previously....And, of course, Bruno and Patrick.

So we arrived at around 4:00 pm. We were taken to the check in area. This is where several Sandals employees whispered back and forth. Then one person talked to the group while two other Sandals employees talked on the phone. So we really couldn’t hear or understand what she said. Eventually we were taken to our room. One person started the adventure with us and then another person finished as the original person never returned after taking another guest to their room. Since we had not eaten anything since 2:30am when we left for the airport we were hungry and thirsty. We found some descent food at the Jerk Shack. Setups were wrapped in a napkin similar to a piece of Scott’s one ply toilet paper. Headed to the bar for a vodka and grapefruit where we told at two different bars they were out of grapefruit juice. We ordered another drink and moved on. Next stop was a martini bar. Wife ordered a dirty martini. We were told they were out of olives and olive juice. Next day we stopped back in office and Were told we could book all of our reservations through their office. This would have been nice to know the day we arrived. We went to Jerk Shack to order nachos on day 2. We were told that is room service only. Went to room and ordered nachos. Were told 45 minutes. We went out on our patio to enjoy the sun and listen to music. After an hour we called to check on food. After calling room service several times, I finally got through. Was told they knocked on our door and since we didn’t answer they took our food back to kitchen. They said they called. We had no messages. They could not leave outside our door. We re-ordered. I’ll update on how the rest of our trip goes.

This was our first time to a Sandals resort and it was beautiful. Upon arrival at the airport - it was a lot of waiting around to get our transfer to the resort. Once we got to the resort - we were pleasantly greeted with towels and beautiful singing :) We were led to check in and asked to upgrade our room with butler service. The process took over 2-1/2 hours which we didn’t understand. They kept telling us “it will be just a few more minutes” over and over again. The gentleman seemed new, but was very friendly, apologetic and even escorted us to our room. We then met our butler who was soo sweet and not only took our requests, but gave us a personal tour of the resort. Day one we spent at the larger pool of the Royal resort. It was gorgeous (no swim up bar), and was the “party” pool w/ a DJ at noon. It got a little too loud for us, so we went up to the 6th floor pool which was a view to die for. Not many chairs, but for whatever reason it wasn’t crowded. Nice bar, too. We spent the other three days at the Sandals Barbados pool. Much smaller and quiet. Meals were very good. Our first night was at the Shooner Seafood and it was so so, but the hibachi, steakhouse and Asian (Soy) were wonderful. Buffets were typical - nice for a quick bite and had a different theme each day. Our biggest disappointment was the butler service. We had three different butlers (based on the time of day) and service was hit or miss. We felt there were a lot of excuses (we can’t do this or that - when they were simple requests) and many times they would say they didn’t get the text message. The one girl had the day shift and all she did was save us pool chairs and drop off a menu. Never saw her again that day - and all she did was walk us to dinner on the last day. The other two were cheerful, but it just wasn’t worth the amount of money we spent. Upon departure - we were given a cab to the Hilton (we stayed an extra day off resort) and were completely taken advantage of by what we were charged. $35 for a 10 minute cab ride (our fault for not asking first, but we assumed Sandals wasn’t going to send us off without confirming). We didn’t know how much we were overcharged until after the fact when we looked up the government regulated fares on . It should have been $15-17 based on the 7 minute cab ride. Overall, it was a gorgeous resort and island. Just wish we made some different choices :)

The food and staff were fabulous. Our only complaint was the water. Contrary to our last trip there, at about the same time of year, the water was so rough that my wife did not get into the ocean. I am a good swimmer, but it was pretty rough for me to stay in very long. Obviously this was not Sandals fault. I have seen Facebook posts about both staff and food, that were not very complimentary, but for us - none of their complaints were valid. We had a great time. Weather every day was mid 80 degrees during the say and mid 70's at night. A few days with a little rain, but it didn't last very long.

After a FANTASTIC week at Sandals Barbados here’s my thoughts. 1st, the resort itself is absolutely beautiful. We stayed at Club Level. From the moment we got to the property the concierge was fantastic Duane gave us the tour and treated us like lifelong friends. During the week we tried to eat at different restaurants as much as possible just to experience them. Mariner had some good food by the pool for lunch. Dino’s pizza - we ate there twice. 1st time wasn’t great. But the 2nd time was MUCH better. Schooner’s - the food was great the service was kind of a miss. The server wasn’t rude but wasn’t personable either. Merry Monkey- we went in late. It was packed. Other than it taking a while to get the food, no complaints. It was hot and delicious. Kimono’s - from start to finish it was a great experience. The chef was hilarious, the server was attentive and the food was amazing Butch’s Chophouse- the filet mignon was out of this world delicious. My wife order surf and turf and said hers was delicious as well. Spice’s - ate breakfast there a couple times. Buffet, the food was hot and good. It’s breakfast so I didn’t expect it to be “spectacular” Cafe Paris - good Variety of pastries only complaint, they were out if the sugar free options for the coffee Butch’s Steak and Seafood - ny steak wasnt as good as I’d hoped but the service was great. American Tavern - good food and service at dinner there once and breakfast there twice. Neptune’s - the Mahi Mahi was out of this world delicious I was disappointed in the all day rum tour. We spent way too long in the van riding around and the driver was nice but rambled on and on about things no one cared about. The snorkel tour / swim with turtles was amazing. My wife and I both really enjoyed it. The Piano Bar was probably our favorite at night attraction. The karaoke was fun. The lady running it was an absolute blast. Nakeem the bartender sang and danced. Truly a great guy. We loved this resort so much we booked again for next summer. 355 days to go!